From a Previous Column

Happy New Year!!! Guess what? Once again it is time to be bombarded with ads for weight loss; lose weight, find a new you. Once again it is time for ads for you to buy something to stop smoking. Stop smoking; find a new you. Take it from me you can not stop smoking and lose weight. If you do lose weight there is not a new you in there just a thinner you. Maybe a little more confident but the same you. Trust me, if some people didn’t like you when you were a little heavy they are not going to like you at all if you are thin. The only real reasons to lose weight are for yourself and for your health just as to stop smoking is for your health, or so they say. Lose weight and all of a sudden all those women who ridiculed you because you were lazy and heavy will be jealous because the men start looking at you. And what is that? The very same person you were is the very same person you are but just because you shed a few pounds those men who never glanced your way are now paying attention. Are men that shallow? Are women that insecure? Every commercial break there will be wonder diet pills, exercise equipment, DVD’s that promote weight loss and firmer bodies, gum to chew to stop the nicotine cravings, the patch for the same reason and every commercial break we feel worse about ourselves. American’s spend countless amounts of money at the dawning of every new year, especially women, to find that inner skinny woman trying to find her way out. It is a battle no doubt, however, just remember when or if that skinny woman emerges she is just you only thinner.
Now that we are working on a thinner us, let’s not forget that we must whiten our teeth to the point that when we enter a room it is the only thing about us others notice. Do not forget to use that deodorant that never ever leaves white marks on the insides of our clothes or the eye drops that keep your eyes from being red when you emerge from the water because no one will look at you if you have red eyes. Or, the hair care products that will make our hair look like Heather Locklear, or the break through make-up that will take ten years off our faces, or the mascara that will lengthen our lashes, or the lipstick that never comes off or whatever else the advertisers deem is necessary to turn one into something someone will want to look at. Makes no sense to me, we are what and who we are and no amount of dieting, paint, designer clothes or whiter teeth will change that. Just be who we grew to be, do not worry about someone else’s opinion of you.
Oh and with the closing of one year and the opening of a new one, we get to find out what Paris Hilton and her ilk have done over the holidays. We will be witness to countless escapades of dimwitted “stars”. Who is getting a divorce, who is running around, who is driving drunk, who is adopting and who is pregnant. We get to witness sports figures acting like sixth graders at recess rolling in the dirt throwing punches. These people seem to be the heroes of our time. The more controversial they are, the bigger than life they appear to be, they are the heroes of our younger generation. What happened to the real heroes? Bill Gates, our soldiers, Johnny Cochran, Jimmy Carter, and all the others who actually did or do something for our society. We have heroes right here at home: Firefighters, Police Officers, EMT’s, volunteers, and individuals who do for others just because.
Start the new year liking who you are. Ignore the antics of the rich and infamous. Live and enjoy the new opportunities awaiting you.